Mariposa Community Health Center fills care gaps by participating in Contexture HIE

Mariposa Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving Santa Cruz County in Southern Arizona, provides comprehensive support including medical, dental, behavioral health, disease prevention, and health promotion services. They are a safety net for their community who would otherwise be unable to access or afford care as 25% of the 47,670 residents live below the federal poverty level. Mariposa faces a high patient volume and complex needs, often leading to an exhaustive allocation of resources as many are underinsured or not insured at all. 

Challenge  

Mariposa needed a reliable process to be alerted when their patients experience medical emergencies or hospital admissions. Without this information, Mariposa’s care team misses crucial opportunities to connect with patients, ensuring they understand their discharge care plans, any new diagnoses, and have access to and understand their new prescriptions and their purposes once home. Mariposa felt that without providing this critical intermediary step from hospital to home, gaps in patient care will continue to increase, driven by missed assessments (such as diabetes prevention), age- and gender-based cancer screenings, and wellness education. Relying on patients to set preventative wellness appointments and checkups is not a great strategy or a realistic expectation. Miguel Escobar, Quality Improvement Coordinator at Mariposa, has seen this and knows, “that patients often don’t follow up unless they feel sick” leading to this cycle perpetuating. 

Solution  

In 2014, Mariposa met with Contexture’s Engagement Solutions Manager to address their challenge of missed opportunities to provide follow-up care for patients recently hospitalized and discharged. During their discussion, they learned that Contexture is Arizona’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), connecting with 98% of Arizona hospitals in both central and rural areas. As pioneers in the Health Information Exchange field, Contexture has been providing these insights to providers across the valley for over 15 years. Mariposa signed on to receive Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) notifications to close the gap in care by being alerted when their patients experience emergency medical events, even when they are outside Mariposa’s clinical doors. 

“These ADT notifications are beneficial to provide better care coordination, closing care gaps and improving health outcomes by receiving real-time data of the population that we serve.”

Miguel Escobar, Quality Improvement Coordinator

Outcome  

Over the past decade, Mariposa has seamlessly integrated ADT notifications into their daily routine, averaging 10,000 each year. They have diligently provided us with patient lists tailored to their specifications, particularly by sorting patients based on payer type. This organization allows their team to effectively manage their caseload, ensuring proper communication and adherence to important measures to close gaps in care and keep patients healthy and out of the hospital. Every morning, Miguel and his Quality Improvement Team receive these patient notification lists, which often set a new priority schedule for the day. The team quickly sorts through them and starts calling patients who were recently discharged to schedule their seven-day posthospital appointments. They also line up any necessary assessments and screenings for the patients’ visits, meeting payer requirements and hitting value-based measures for revenue-generating tasks. 

Impact

ADT notifications are the guiding light and cornerstone that set the pace for the day, allowing Mariposa to proactively and timely support their patients by alleviating the burden of seeking follow-up care on their own after their most critical moments. By prioritizing their patients through this meaningful and timely follow-up, Mariposa helps keep them healthy, in control of their lives, and out of the hospital. Contexture is proud to partner with Mariposa and has witnessed firsthand the incredible work, dedication, and impact they have made within their community. The value of receiving ADT notifications is clear: it transforms patient care, making it more responsive and effective, and ultimately improves health outcomes. If you’re looking to enhance your patient care and thrive in the value-based care market, consider integrating ADT notifications into your workflow. Discover the insights you never knew you needed and see the difference it can make for your patients and your practice. 

About Mariposa Community Health Center  

Mariposa Community Health Center was founded in 1980 and serves Santa Cruz County in Southern Arizona. Their mission is to improve the health of patients and communities by providing a patient-centered health care home that ensures access to culturally appropriate, primary care and community-based education regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. They facilitate access to specialty care and provide services and programs that respond to community/patient needs and encourage individual responsibility for one’s health. Learn more at https://www.mariposachc.net/.